29. July 2009 by admin.

Over the years I must have downloaded and installed/uninstalled quite a few (I cannot remember anymore!) password programs that can help me manage my usernames/passwords combinations.  With so many websites out there that requires you to login first before you can use their services it is quite daunting to remember what username/password to use.  I don’t particularly relish the idea of writing my username/passwords on pieces of paper because it’s inherently insecure besides being foolish.  I am also wary of ‘password managers’  that claims they don’t have access to all the juicy information I entrusted to it. Then again my memory can only hold so much.

So, this morning, I downloaded the LastPass application from http://www.lastpass.com.  According to their website it is “an online password manager and form filler that makes web browsing easier and more secure.”  Good. Exactly what I need. So, I went ahead and installed it. It was easy and straightforward. No hassles at all. Then the application prompted me if I want to search for insecure information on my computer. I sure got the shock of my life when it easily retrieved all of my passwords that I use for Twitter, Facebook, GMail, etc.  It dawned on me, duh! that any malicious application can easily do the same had I inadvertently downloaded one.  Whew! That sure would be big trouble.

Right now I’m testing LassPass but it looks very promising.

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10. April 2008 by admin.

I was just reading Businessweek’s April 10, 2008 cover  ”The New Espionage Threat” and I am not surprised.  If hackers can hack into banks and grocery / clothing stores they can surely hack themselves into every computer network out there.  It’s no longer a matter of what these “cyber-attackers” can do but when they can do it.  We can not anymore pretend that our network systems are secure just because they’re behind concrete walls or high fences.  Cyber-attackers don’t even need to be in close proximity to their target to get in.And now, I learned, these cyber-attackers have foreign government sponsorship.  It could even be that it is the foreign government who is orchestrating these attacks and hiding behind inconspicuous companies.  It’s the new spy-game.  And they don’t even have to send a warm body over.They are targeting our defense contractors and doing it in a large scale.   

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